Preschools in Paris

[sohyun78]

Hi, I am a mom of two, who is planning to move to Paris in the summer. My older one is 3.5, and currently going to a preschool in America. She will be 4 by the time we move there, and she will be Pre-K in American terms. I am looking for a preschool in Paris, and to be honest, I am bit overwhelmed and confused... Help!!

These are the schools I found..

1. Bilingual Montessori School
2. EaB

3.EabJM 4.Eurecole

We are planning on staying for a year or two, and we want her to be in a warm and welcoming atmosphere where both languages are spoken. I want her to learn French naturally without being stressed. She is rather a shy kid and we've been working on building her self-esteem.

• Another question: Any idea why EaB is so much more expensive than EabJM?

Which bilingual Montessori? Lenin on quai d'orsay I wouldn't recommend as they're not very proactive about encouraging equal fluency in both languages. EAB and EABJM are much more defined. I'd recommend both those but bear in mind EABJM is very focused and quite academic (my ex-charge went there) whereas the feeling on MN seems to be EAB is much gentler, which is good at primary level. Lots of Americans at EABJM and if you're living on the south side of the river where IME US expats tend to congregate that would be the school to go for rather than trekking across Paris. You're also near the American library then!

Eurecole I don't know at all but I've heard quite mixed reviews.

It also depends hugely where you plan to live...

Thank you for your response! That was very helpful!!

I meant bilingual montessori on quai d'orsay in American Church in Paris. I liked the fact that in Montessori, they have one French-speaking teacher and one English-speaking teacher. I imagined that it would be a comfortable environment for her to acquire the language.. but I wasn't sure about how they put kids in mixed-age group..

Do you know how Pre-K classes are structured at EAB or EABJM? Are both languages spoken at all times, or is French spoken mostly, with English lessons? Are there many English-speaking students there?

My daughter will know a little bit of French by the time we move, and we want the transition to be as smooth as possible. The last thing we want is that she making a fuss every morning not wanting to go to school.. It will break my heart... :(

We can live anywhere, so we will decide on her school first, and look for an apartment nearby. It is good to know that EABJM has many Americans. Thanks :)

Both EAB and EABJM have pretty much the same structure. The disadvantage of the Montessori IMO is the dual system. Certainly at EABJM they have a French teacher in a French class where they speak French (most of the time) and an English teacher in an English class where they speak English (about 1,5 hours a day). English is streamed from very early into EMT and EFL, which is another plus for EMT children, but French is mixed and staff are very conscious if the fact there are non-French speakers in there. All the staff speak both languages as far as I can tell so there are no worries about miscommunication/teachers no understanding which might occur for a local maternelle.

English speakers from memory the EMT level class from CP (6-7 years old) was just over third of the year with a slightly larger advanced EFL class and a slightly smaller less advanced EFL class.

EABJM read early, earlier than EAB I think, and start reading in French.

One thing to consider is your DDs birthday. If she's a Sept-Dec birthday the French system will have her in a different year to the UK (and probably US) system as they start children in petite section the calendar year they turn 3. So she would start moyenne section (Pre K) the calendar year she turns 4 and grande section the calendar year she turns 5. EABJM starts at moyenne section which may be an advantage as all the children will be new (and you don't have to do the tests they insist on later) so with that in mind there's likely to be a larger number of non-francophone children - I don't know whether you would see that as an advantage or not.

Also EAB Monceau has much more outdoor space - EABJM and Dupleix are both quite cramped feeling in comparison, despite being 2 streets away from green play areas!

But for EAB you need to talk to bonsoir or teafortwo really, both have DDs there and you can send them a message.

Sounds like the montessori schools in Paris are very much set up like the ones in Brussels, French and English teachers in the same class. I have yet to meet a child at a bilingual Montessori school here in Brussels who actually is bilingual French / English, it makes me a bit sceptical that 2 languages in the same small class space is not too confusing, whereas French teacher / English teacher separated appears to work better. It might also be a case of the background of the children too. Nearly all the children in the Montessori schools in Brussels do not speak French at home, many do not speak English either, many Germans, Finns, Russians etc with a high turnover of children, all trying to learn 2 languages in the same environment, some children seem to pick up one (nearly always English) or neither languages to native speaker level. I bet the children at EAB and EABJM are far more likely to be native speakers of French and/or English than at the Montessoris.

If we'd moved to Paris rather than Brussels, we would have considered EAB / EABJM for our older children or just a local maternelle for the younger ones.

Wow.. Thank you! Things seem a bit clearer now.. I can see how the dual system at Montessori can be a disadvantage..

I will look into EAB & EABJM and see which one can be a better fit for my daughter. My main concern is that she is a bit of introverted kid and I don't want her to be overwhelmed by her school.

I like the fact that at EAB, they play at Park Monceau. I am leaning toward to EAB over EABJM for now, but I will do more research on both schools before making a decision.

Thank you for referring your friends too! I will definitely get in touch with them if I need help!

If your older DC is going to have her fourth birthday by this summer, that means she was born in 2007 and would currently be in Petite Section in France... so you are looking for a place for her in Moyenne Section. If you want a place at EaB Monceau, you really need to get a move on with applications as places in MS fill up fast.

My DD did all three years of maternelle at EaB Monceau and is now in CP/11ème (first year of primary). I have generally been very happy with it and DD is settled and has lots of friends. My DD is a native French-English bilingual, though her English is her better language. My one proviso is that I don't think that EaB push the native English speakers enough and I engaged a charming English primary teacher to teach DD her letters/phonics from the middle of Moyenne Section . DD has been let off her extra tutoring since September, as she was learning to read and write in French and I didn't want to overburden her, but since that is all going swimmingly, we are now going to start up again on extra English reading/writing at home and with a tutor.

Natation you are very correct: " I bet the children at EAB and EABJM are far more likely to be native speakers of French and/or English than at the Montessoris."

Basically priority is given to those who are already bilingual, then to native speakers of either. Moving to the area ups your chances, doubly so if you're moving from an anglophone system. Interestingly if you're on a short-term posting (and the school will ask how long your child will stay there) an intention to move back out of the French system helps for EABJM - IME parents who say that they're particularly attracted by the high standard of EMT work and consistency with the British or American curriculum are at an advantage, probably more because it flatters the school than anything else! I suppose also it comes down to need; the bilingual schools are the best option curriculum-wise for anglophones in central Paris as the only central pure anglophone option is ISP, which runs the PYP, or you have to trek out to BSP, ASP or Marymount, and the schools know that so they prioritise children who need some measure of consistency in the curriculum for mid-cycle entrants, which I suppose is fair enough.

Bonsoir, my DD will turn 4 in June, so she would be in MS in Sept. I will definitely start the application process asap!

My daughter's first language is Korean, and she started preschool 7 months ago. Now she is fluent in English, but I think her Korean is stronger. At home, my DH and I speak both Korean & English. As much as I want her to learn French, I don't want her to lose her English as we will be moving back to America after a couple of years. Do you think she will need extra help to maintain her English? Or conversing with her in English at home will be enough?

GoldFrakkincenseAndMyrrh, thank you so much for the tip!!! :o Your advice will be a great help when we go through the application process.

One more question: How easy /difficult will it be for a non French speaking mom to be involved in the school ? I would love to volunteer and/or take part in Parent-Teacher Association but I am not sure if there's anything for me to do.. :(

TBH, there are very few Koreans around in Paris, so if you are active in the EaB community (and this is easy - it's very friendly) you will make lots of English-speaking friends and your DD will speak English with her friends as well as at school and I expect will keep it up pretty well, as well as learning French. You just need to remain vigilant, and alter the doses of exposure to one or other language on a needs basis.

There isn't much volunteering directly in school, but the Parents Association does lots to try to help new parents feel welcome.

At EABJM you can go in and read stories but otherwise there's not that much within the school. The usual accompanying children on trips etc but both school communities are lovely and used to welcoming people to Paris.

I knew a couple of Korean families at EABJM but as bonsoir says they are quite rare in Paris! But they are there if you want to hunt them out. I suspect the majority of the people you socialise with will be English speakers - and you can find them both at school and through organisations like Message who will help find activities for you to do with your younger one - so your DD will get English at school and with friends and, from the sounds of it, some at home which is fine. Just keep an eye on it and adjust as necessary.

As GoldFrakkincenseandMyrrh quite rightly points out, Message is a great source of English-speaking mothers, especially for mothers of pre-schoolers - Message

You guys are so helpful! Thanks!!

I just checked out Message website, and Oh My Good God, isn't it just what I needed!! I will join the organization as soon as I land my feet in Paris. Thank God I got in touch with you ladies!

Another question, if you don't mind - What is the teacher to student ratio in these schools? The maximum number allowed here is 12 at that age group and my daughter's class often gets out of control with 12 kids wanting to do their own things with one teacher in the classroom. When one needs help in the bathroom, the other 11 gets no supervision in the meantime.. :( It is different from school to school but that is how it is at my daughter's school. As a teacher myself, I believe in small classes and individual attention..

There are 30 children in a class in MS in France, and that will be the same in any school that is under contract with the Ministry of Education. At EaB the English classes are slightly smaller (children are in streams for English and there is normally one more English class than French class, so slightly fewer children on average). Children don't get help going to the lavatory in MS, though they are taken as a group to the lavatory before breaks. There are TAs but they are not systematically in the classroom.

Korean families rare in Paris?

There are a lot of Korean families at the American School. Teacher to pupil ratio pretty low in Lower School too (I think about 16-18 in a class?).

We are planning a move from NYC to Paris this summer. Our oldest will be 3 yrs this month. It sounds like he would need to be in petite section, correct?

What would be the best English and French program for a 3 yr old in central Paris? Seems eajbm only has starting at moyenne.

For eab would you recommend regular French with English or the English speaking victor Hugo? Vh seems significantly more expensive.

What are thoughts on bilingual Montessori of Paris?

We have had him in preschool in NYC and he is thriving! Want him to continue to be as happy! He is outgoing and bright.

EaB Monceau is lovely in petite section - half days only (mornings for children born July-December, afternoons for children born January-June), five days a week, in half size classes (15 children), with lots of very lovely TAs if you go to the petit Monceau annex (other side of park from main Van Dyck building). Hurry up and do the paperwork, though it should be OK for PS which is often not full.

Otherwise people say very good things about Le Petit Cours du Rocher.

'Montessori on quai d'Orsay I wouldn't recommend if you want to encourage bilingualism but it has a nice atmosphere. I would consider future educational options carefully though and wouldn't go up to 6 with them. It's the only one I know although they have other branches. I think they're much the sane setup though and IMO it's not particularly effective.

Yes, EABJM only starts at MS so EAB is definitely best for a 3yo. At 4 they have different strengths and weaknesses depending on the atmosphere you want but up until 11 they're much of a muchness (unless you have a particular preference for Spanish or Chinese!).

Interesting about the Korean families all being at ASP! I hadn't really come across many around Paris so concluded they were relatively rare. Happy to stand corrected though :)

Thanks for input so far! We are still considering the move and a large part of decision will be how happy we believe our 3 yr old can be. He only speaks english right now (mom speaks no French, father fully bilingual American who grew up in Paris himself as teenager). Son is outgoing but definitely want a place he will feel comfortable learning French in relaxed manner. Want his school experiences to be positive rather than frustrating.

Can anyone speak to level of bilingualism at eab monceau? Similarly at le petit cours rocher? Would you generally agree montessori programs not as good?

Want most comfortable place for English speaking wanting to learn French without stress!

Out of curiosity, where do 3 yr olds go before attending eabjm traditionally?

A fair few do go to the Montessori but whilst it's okay for a child who is bilingual already, or a competent communicator, it doesn't promote or particularly encourage language learning. Holding true to Montessori style it lets the child explore at their own pace but children being pragmatic little beings they tend to communicate most with the educator and children who speak 'their' language if monolingual. In many ways it's very nice but it's at nowhere near the same level for promoting French (or English) acquisition as EAB's PS. I know several French parents who were very disappointed by the level of language acquisition because they were relying on that as their child's sole exposure to English and the input simply isn't intensive enough. IMO the system of having a teacher of each language there all the time just doesn't encourage a child who doesn't speak one of those languages to make tge effort to learn it whereas at EAB/EABJM the child has to speak both for purely pragmatic reasons! It's nothing to do with Montessori (per se) and everything to do with the set-up of having the 2 languages available simultaneously. A Montessori where they had an English educator in the morning and a French one in the afternoon would probably be as effective as the other schools. Otherwise IME children go to the local maternelle or stay at home.

Now I'm going to be a complete hypocrite and say that if we're back in Paris when our (hopefully bilingual) DC is old enough then I'd consider it for ages 2-4, but that's cos it's a nice Montessori based setting close to where we'd live and not because I'm relying on my child acquiring French from them.

EAB on the other hand is excellent at promoting bilingualism. Obviously bonsoir/others with children there can comment more than I can as my experience of children at that school is limited but their methods seem very close EABJM which I do have experience of and those work very well.

Exactly of same opinion as Gold&&, about what happens with 2 languages simultaneously in a school environment. Where we live, I can think immediately of 7 Montessoris with the exact same set-up of French/English teachers in the same classroom, made harder even with the fact that French is the native language of hardly any of the children, despite being the majority language of the local population, and only some children with English as their native language. I have talked to English speaking parents who are happy with the fact their children are not really bilingual come through it with some French, for them the outcome is an excellent one as nearly always they move back to an English speaking country and they do need the consistency of and English education (the fees at the monolingual English schools here are high in comparison to the Montessoris so are often not an option). However, it's the non native English or French speaking parents who are most disatisfied, sometimes their children pick up neither any French nor English, with so many languages in the classroom, it must not be easy - imagine a classroom of 16 children, 1 speaks French, 5 speak English, 3 speak Russian, 5 speak German etc.... with only one target French speaking teacher and one target English speaking teacher as the sole exposure to the language, it's like the class has no common ground, it should have 2 ie the 2 target languages, but in fact the result is none. Maybe I'm exagerating a bit, that's what parents have told me when recalling their disappointment that their child appears to have failed to pick up English and / or French.

You could just go for a local maternelle, but Paris is very spoiled at having partially funded bilingual schools, where we live it is politically impossible and does not exist - immersion schools yes for Dutchy and one French school with a few hours a week EMT or EFL but not bilingual ones 50/50. It means that many local maternelles are full round ours with many many different nationalities AND of course native speakers, the common ground is French - only in certain "ethnic" areas do other languages interfere with French acquisition as a 2nd language when they is a huge dominance of another home language in a particular quarter ie Turkish, Albanian or Arabic. Are there not areas of Paris where there is a "nice" mix of nationalities and also French where they combine into maternelles where the teachers are used to French as a second language acquisition? And also where they are used to the sensitivities of parents who do not speak French well and worry about how their loved ones are adjusting to a new language and normally also a different educational culture? A local maternelle which is like this should be fine for a 3 year old coming from outside France.....???

NYCtoParis, I'm sure your son will do just fine, the vast majority of children will adjust quite quickly to a new environment. You never know, you might like it so much, you may want to stay forever.

30 children in a class?! Ok.. this is officially my first culture shock.. haha.. And I am not even in Paris yet!

MrsSchadenfreude, what is the official name of the American school you are talking about? Thanks!

Nyctoparis2011, you and I seem to be in a similar situation, wanting to find a preschool with a similar kind of atmosphere.

I speak no French but my husband speaks almost fluent French, and my primary concern is that my daughter is happy and she gets enough attention in a loving environment.

If your son is an outgoing type, I wouldn't worry too much. My daughter is more of an introverted type, and it took a while for her to adjust at her current school, as she didn't know much English when she started. As a 1.5 generation Korean-American myself, I remember exactly how it was to be not understood.

Cheers to us for finding perfect schools for our kids!

If I am very honest, nearly all the Anglophone DC who join EaB in PS or MS speak French fluently by the end of GS and go on to 11ème/CP and learn to read and write in French with ease and are fully bilingual.

Occasionally, however, some Anglophone DC don't make it and need to spend the 11ème year in the adaptation classes to learn more French.

Sohyun - ASP - the American School of Paris. It's just outside Paris in St Cloud/Garches.

I continue to be amazed at how helpful and nice the moms appear to be on this board. nothing like urbanbaby in ny! thank you everyone.

Seem to be leaning to eab monceau, but would also love input on le petits cours du rocher if anyone knows anything?

we should be able to decide in a few weeks by Feb if we are going to move. would this be too late for applying? if you apply multiple places can you get app fees back if dont attend one?

finally, any nice bilingual schools on left bank 7th or 6th arr. that anyone recommends. with petite section?